Thousands of students taking engineering courses risk not being registered as professionals as the courses they are taking have not been accredited by the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK).
EBK on Thursday, March 10, disclosed that 26 courses being taught in Kenyan universities are of no use as they are not employable.
Speaking at the National Assembly’s Committee on Education and Research, EBK Registrar, Margaret Ogai, said that most unaccredited universities lack the same educational standards and qualities that accredited ones have.
“It is a waste of resources for the parents and students taking unaccredited courses and such waste affects our country’s economy negatively,” she stated.
The universities offering unaccredited courses include University of Nairobi, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and Egerton University.
Egerton University tops the list with five unaccredited engineering courses including Civil and Environmental Engineering, Electrical and Control Engineering, Civil and Structural Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Technology and Manufacturing Engineering.
Unaccredited courses being offered by Kenyatta University include Petroleum Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering and Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering.
Three students from Egerton University filed a petition complaining that their right to education had been violated by being taken through an unaccredited course.
The three graduated with degrees in Water and Environmental Engineering in 2019.
The students claimed that they had been unable to secure jobs and want Parliament to compel the university to allow them to undertake eight remedial units in order for them to upgrade their degrees to Civil and Environmental Engineering, which is accredited.
Moreover, they want the university to pay them Ksh750,000 in order to upgrade their courses to accredited ones.
They also want the university to stop enrolling more students in the programmes.
Egerton Vice Chancellor, Prof Isaac Kibwage, told Parliament that the university is willing to offer eight remedial courses to the graduates at no cost.
He added that the courses have since been reviewed to meet the EBK requirements for BSc Civil and Environment Engineering and a request to CUE to change the course name is also in progress.
